LEWISBURG — The Tri-County North girls basketball team lost a pair of games last week, losing 66-25 in their match-up against Brookville before falling 41-39 to Bradford.
They hosted the Blue Devils on Monday, Dec. 14, struggling to match-up against Brookville’s big lineup.
The Panthers were unable to defend Brookville’s post player Jordann Gudorf, who had 22 points on the night.
North did come away from the loss with one bright spot – their free throw shooting continues to be solid. They were 15-17 from the charity stripe, as leading scorer Cassi Stinson went 9-10 on the night.
Stinson finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds. Riley Cruse had three points while Sara Harris added two points and four rebounds. Tiarra Alford also chipped in two points on the night.
Three days later, North found itself in a nail-biter with Cross County Conference opponent Bradford.
The Panthers opened up the contest with a strong first half, jumping out to a 22-15 halftime lead, helped by Harris’ three treys in the second quarter. But they did not fully capitalize at the free throw line, going 5-8 before the break.
“With being a free throw shooting team we have to hit those clinch free throws that is one of our strong points,” said North head coach Jessica Cherry.
Out of the half, the Railroaders opened with a 7-0 and knotted the game up.
It was back and forth for the remainder of the contest with Bradford eventually taking the final lead with 1:06 left.
North had four offensive rebounds in the final 50 seconds, but were unable to cash in.
“We just couldn’t hit a shot. We had full opportunity and came up short,” said Cherry. “It was good to see a good ball game and the girls came out and shot the ball well. We came up short but did many things right.”
Stinson had 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Harris also added 13 points and pulled down seven boards and had three steals. Riley Cruse had six points and eight rebounds and Alford added three points.
North was scheduled to host Franklin Monroe on Monday, Dec. 21 but will not play again until Monday, Jan. 4 at Mississinawa Valley.
